Glass Vases
by Blondie B. Happy
Summary: Cracked. Shattered. Empty, and waiting to be full again. Her heart was like a glass vase, and he was trying to fill the spaces.


**Happy Valentine's Day! I decided to write this instead of doing another collection of Valentine's love stories, like last year (You can check those out though. The story is called, Camp Half Blood: Five Valentine's Day Love Stories). This is very metaphorical, and if it doesn't make sense, then my work here is done:) Percabeth! Perhaps PWP! I hope you enjoy this short one-shot!**

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Cracked. Shattered. Empty, and waiting to be full again.

Her heart was ticking like a clock, time passing every now and then, but sometimes getting stuck in the forever. She called the forever her love, and there were many who tried to fill her forever. They were like running water, drip drip dripping, tick tick ticking.

It was like trying to fill a glass vase with boulders. Nothing was going to fit right. She had convinced herself of that a long time ago. And now, time passed as she sat on her bed, walked down the street, repeated the order a thousand times.

Sitting on the bench with a book in her lap, a rustle of clothes, a change of the wind caught her attention. She told herself to not look up, do not meet eye contact, but the whistling was annoying and the person was much too close.

She coughed and scooted over, trying to much a miniscule level of space between them. She lifted her hat away from her eyes and met those of the person. A startling green, like the shining sea, met her. Hello, they said loudly.

"Hello," he said. He tapped his foot. Nervousness cascaded off of him with the blowing wind. Her hat almost fell off and she pressed her hand down to prevent it. No, remain in control.

She didn't respond. Instead, she turned her head in the opposite direction and stared at the great oak trees that reached to the sky and were closer than she'd ever be. Sighing, she took off her hat and let the rain fall through her hair.

Something came over her, and she turned her head towards the man. But the man was an empty space of air and leaves and the pouring rain. Maybe he had tried to get her to notice him with the noisy entrance, but he had now proven that he could be stealth like.

Back to the rain. Perhaps it could fill her glass vase.

Time passed, tick tick ticking, and she found herself on the same bench later the same day in the same position, reading her soaking book but without a hat. Hello rain, she said softly. Will you be my friend?

Sigh no more, they replied. Your time has come.

To die? She asked in her head, putting her book inside of her coat. Is it finally time to die? She had tried to die on several occasions, usually after her forever's ended, but the efforts remained futile.

Not to die. Your time has come for your forever to begin.

And in the same moment, the man with green eyes sat down next to her. He did not bother to ask her anything, but he looked cheerful in the way she had not felt in a long time. He was smiling at the nature and at the birds flying through branches and animal life staying dry from the rain.

"Hello," she felt herself say. Why oh why did she say that?

Surprise replaced the happiness. Relaxation was replaced by stiffness in his joints and he looked at her with an odd expression. Her voice had sounded like sand paper. She had not used it since her last forever.

"Hi," he replied, completely turning his body to look at her. His eyes roamed her body. She had striking blonde hair that was covered in water, and her gray eyes always seemed to judge people. Her last forever had left her, saying it was something about her eyes that frightened him. How could eyes affect someone so much as to empty a glass vase and shatter it into a million fragments?

"And your name might be?" he asked nicely but cautiously, like he was afraid that she would ignore him for the second time and go back to watching the droplets.

Nothing would have been better than to watching the downpour and count the drops. She wanted to follow their journey from the fluffy clouds to the hard ground and watch them collect in the puddle caused by the broken vase.

"My name is Percy," he informed her. "I've never seen you sit here before, and I come here every day."

"Last I checked, this bench seat didn't belong to you," she grumbled. Too mean, too bad. No, no, bad job. The rain hammered on her harder. Punishment, they reminded her. This is your torture for your bad ways. Make a right.

"Sorry," she breathed, easing the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach but he obviously didn't hear her. He had gone back to studying the wildlife. He was just trying to be nice. She tried a different tactic. "I'm Annabeth."

Time had ticked since she had last said her own name. Time had ticked since someone had said her name. Percy looked down at her. He was a good head taller. "Annabeth." The name rolled off his tongue luxuriously, like he was savoring each syllable. "That's a unique name. I've never heard it before."

Just as she had never heard anyone say that to her before. He left her without a response to make. Sigh no more. Sighing wasn't an answer to her problems. "I know. I've never met another person with the name."

She took a moment to study his hair. It was black like night and matted down. He ran a hand through it and it stuck up in all different places. It was almost comical. His smile was like the beginning of summer. She wanted to smile back, but her smile always betrayed malice.

Grinning, he answered, "Well, I guess you're just special." It was a compliment. She didn't receive them often. Something fluttered inside of her, not at all like the shards of glass that had been tearing her out for her entire life. This made her feel almost joyful.

"So, why are you sitting out here during a rain storm?" he ventured.

"I could ask you the same question," she shot back.

His smile only got bigger. "Very well, if you like to play it out like that. The rain helps me think. There's something about the steadiness and unpredictable-ness of it that just soothes me. I'm not scared of lightning. Hell, let it strike me. I've always wanted to see what that would feel like."

It was as if the words had been stolen from her mind. She was sure that she was gaping at him. "I guess it's the same for me. I trace the rain drops from the sky to the ground and count them. I wish it would rain all the time."

He nodded and looked thoughtfully at her. "I've never seen eyes like yours either. They are gray, right?"

"Yes." What else was she supposed to say? The rain hit her in the gut like mini bullets. The rain was criticizing her. Can't you say anything more? They threatened. Sigh no more, Annabeth Chase. Live a little, it'll do you good.

He spoke next. "Would you like to go somewhere warm? There's a coffee place down the street, and I'd love to take you. It's getting kind of cold anyway." Her ears must have been deceiving her, but he was standing in front of her with a ready umbrella, arm extended for her to hold onto.

What was she to do? Get up and join him. The time was tick ticking, and he was waiting. "I thought you said that you liked the rain. Why would you want to leave?"

"I'd rather spend my time with a beautiful girl drinking coffee than anywhere else." He said it, and was she mistaken or was there a blush on his perfect cheeks that spread around his green eyes to the line of his black hair? She pushed herself to her feet and rested her hand on his arm.

"Show me the way," she told him. He smiled at her again. Her heart somersaulted like she was doing cartwheels. He placed the umbrella over them, and the rain stopped hitting her in the head. It drip drip dripped off of the umbrella.

Goodbye Annabeth, said the rain in farewell. And may you new forever begin again. Sigh no more.

The glass vase started to fill up again and mend itself, so slowly. But it wasn't with boulders or rain. It was with a kind man that went by the name of Percy. A kind man that loved the rain and offered her coffee. A kind man that placed an umbrella over her head to stop the rain from doing its toll.

Her forever had just started for the final time.

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**Reviews are loved!**

**Thanks for reading!**


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